1. Field Of The Present Invention
The present invention relates generally to bushings forming a bearing surface for a pivot pin inserted within an aperture in a support member, and more particularly to such a bearing having retaining means integrally formed on the bushing.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Tubular bushings are often inserted through apertures in a support member to provide a bearing surface for a pivot pin extending through the aperture. For example, in a particular motor vehicle construction in which the accelerator pedal support is pivotally mounted with respect to the floor of a vehicle body, a bracket includes spaced flanges having registering apertures that receive a pivot pin therethrough. While bushings may be inserted through the apertures in the flanges, such bushings are often retained within the apertures by retaining means formed on or applied to the pivot pin to restrict axial displacement of the pivot pin, whereby the bushing is entrained in position with respect to the support flange. Moreover, although it has been known to provide an enlarged shoulder at one end of the bushing to provide an abutment surface which resists axial displacement of the bushing in one direction, the bushing is typically entrained within the aperture only by means which axially entrains the pivot pin in a relatively fixed axial position with respect to the support flanges. The typical means for axially entraining the pin within the bracket often comprises a washer which is inserted over the end portion of the pivot pin extending outwardly of the flange and which rests against the raised shoulder on the bushing, and retention means such as a nut threadably engaged on the end portion of the pivot pin or a cotter pin extending through a transverse opening in the pin adjacent the axial position of the washer.
While the previously known accelerator pivot mechanism discussed above is common, it may be appreciated that such a construction requires the production and assembly of numerous parts in order to provide an operative assembly. Moreover, each of the parts must be assembled in the proper sequence to assure proper operation of the assembly. Thus, the repetition of the numerous steps necessary to produce and assemble the previously known accelerator pivot assembly substantially compounds the complexity of the mass production of motor vehicles by increasing the time and labor required to construct the assembly and by increasing the number of parts which must be manufactured, transported from several sources and sorted to predetermined work stations along the mass production assembly line.
One previously known bushing which is provided with means for entraining the bushing within an aperture in a support member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,035 to Biesecker. Biesecker discloses a bushing having an enlarged flange at one end and a tubular body enclosed at the other end. A metal sleeve adapted to fit over the tubular body includes a retaining ridge adapted to be received within a peripheral groove in the tubular body. The sleeve also includes radially outwardly biased fingers which extend toward the enlarged flange on the tubular body. While such a structure substantially reduces the time necessary to install the bushing within the aperture of the support member, the separate construction of the tubular member and the metal sleeve still requires a separate assembly step for the bushing and its retaining means. As a result, such a construction still requires the time and expense necessary to consolidate the manufacturing, transport, and timely support of the components at the assembly station for the pivot assembly.
Another previously known bushing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,287 to Wehlau. Wehlau discloses a bearing bush which includes conical projections spaced axially apart from an expanded shoulder at one end of a tubular body. The projections are formed on a resiliently deformable wall portion of the bush so that they can be wedged through an aperture in a support member. Unfortunately, it may be appreciated that substantially the same force used to install the bushing within a fixed position within the aperture in the support member can also be used to dislodge the bush from the support member when applied in the opposite direction. As a result, the strength of the retaining means in such a bushing is more limited than in other known bushing retaining structures.